Cops: Parents left kids alone while shopping

A man and woman were arrested after they left their young children alone in a car outside a Macy's in Hampton Bays Thursday afternoon, Southampton Town Police said.

Adrian Coria, 32, and Bertha Sanchez-Marquez, 31, both of Oakview Highway in East Hampton, were charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child after police responded to a report that two young kids had been left...

Get unlimited digital access $14.99 A MONTH

A man and woman were arrested after they left their young children alone in a car outside a Macy's in Hampton Bays Thursday afternoon, Southampton Town Police said.

Adrian Coria, 32, and Bertha Sanchez-Marquez, 31, both of Oakview Highway in East Hampton, were charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child after police responded to a report that two young kids had been left alone in a car.

Police found the children outside the department store at 180 W. Montauk Hwy. in 39-degree weather about 4:45 p.m. Witnesses told police the 3-year-old and 8-year-old children had been alone in the car for more than 15 minutes before the authorities got there.

Police said they saw the children in the car alone, with the engine turned off. Coria and Sanchez-Marquez were located inside the Macy's about 5:30 p.m. and arrested.

A Southampton Town Police spokesman said the fact that a 3-year-old was left in the care of an 8-year-old was the primary factor in charging the couple with endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

Earlier this week, Luis Lucero Fajardo, 32, of Patchogue was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child after he left his 5-month-old and 5-year-old sons in a cold, unattended car while he shopped, Suffolk police said. The temperature outside that day was 25 degrees, police said.